ABUJA — The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed optimism that Nigeria can become a major rice exporter in Africa, insisting that the country’s agricultural potential and available human, financial and natural resources are sufficient to achieve the ambition
The forum said Nigeria could close its 5.3 million metric tonnes rice production deficit and become a net exporter if governments addressed policy inconsistencies, improved agricultural data and provided sustained support to farmers and other players across the value chain.
The Director-General of the NGF, Dr. Abdulateef Shittu, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja during the launch of the Northwest Rice Diagnostic Report organised by the forum.
Shittu said Nigeria currently consumed about 8.6 million metric tonnes of rice annually, a figure projected to rise to 9.1 million metric tonnes next year, while domestic production stood at only 3.3 million metric tonnes.
He blamed the production shortfall on inconsistent government policies, poor coordination and other challenges affecting the agricultural sector.
According to him, Nigeria has no justification for remaining dependent on imported rice, given its agricultural resources and capacity to supply regional African markets and parts of Europe.
He cited China’s transition from food deficit to self-sufficiency through targeted investments, saying Nigeria needed similar political commitment to achieve food security.
Shittu said: “You can see the huge gap. So, how do we address this? There are a lot of policy flip-flops, policy mismatch, and quite a number of other challenges that we will all have to address. But my motto simply is that there is no problem without a solution.
“We have all the resources, both human and material. We have the land and everything that we need to support farmers and other actors across the value chain. Whatever they need can be guaranteed.”
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